Joseph Oughourlian achieves 'Pax Romana' at Prisa with 99.52% support.

BarcelonaThere will be no internal coup (for now) at Prisa. The media group's chairman, Joseph Oughourlian, has secured the support of 99.52% of the possible votes for his management report at the shareholders' meeting held this Wednesday. The key to achieving this has a political interpretation: he has reversed his intention to reduce the number of directors in the group, a maneuver interpreted as an operation to gain control and exclude those who have been critical of his leadership. The origin of the split is Oughourlian's decision not to bid for the free-to-air television project that Pedro Sánchez's government is seeking to offer. Prisa's top executive considered it a dubious business, but the directors closest to the Moncloa government were pushing for the conglomerate to submit its bid.

Despite the near unanimity achieved, Oughourlian referred to the "elephant in the room" and, in his speech, issued a warning: "This group is not a toy, and we cannot be distracted by internal battles, but neither can we tolerate special interests." During his speech, he also lamented the "frivolous" assertion that the group plans to sell the publishing house Santillana, given that, he said, it contributes half of Prisa's revenue and 70 percent of its EBITDA. The businessman and shareholder explained that he works "for the benefit of all shareholders, all employees, and all creditors." He emphasized: "And they will not move me from that position." Regarding the issues raised, he also emphasized that he has estimated the cost of debt refinancing at an additional €12 million, due to the uncertainty generated by the internal battle.

The board also voted on the latest capital increase and the opposition of the Polanco family, who hold 7% of the shares and were the main promoters of the group in its beginnings and, specifically, of the newspaper, was felt here. The CountryCriticism has also come from Adolfo Utor, owner of Balearia and also a major shareholder in the group, with a 5% stake. He was one of the people who was being counted on to provide an alternative majority that could change Prisa's management and align it more closely with the interests of the Moncloa government.

Oughourlian, for his part, offered a conciliatory message, but also referred to the second strategy undertaken by the rebel shareholders—after they saw they could not form an alternative majority to oust him—which consisted in this case of trying to buy the Prisa group's media outlets with the Alconaba group. In a subsequent meeting with journalists, he stated that there had been no offer and that he trusted there would be none in the future either.